EP1126268A1 - Method and device for processing material - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus and a process for preparing amaterial, such as a sample, for analysis, observation,recording or the like at high accuracy by a simpleconstruction and simple operation, which can form a cutface and/or a cut rift while preventing deformation,destruction and denaturing of the material. The saidprocess comprising embedding a part of the material (11)in a filler (13) in a holder (4) of a holding unit (1)under settling with a settling means (5), holding theprotruding portion (11b) of the material (11) by aprotruding portion support (7) of a mount (2), freezingthe material (11) instantaneously by dry ice placed indry ice wells (6a, 6b) while effecting a gas phasereplacement and cutting the material (11) by a cutter(22) to form a cut face (14) and/or a cut rift (15).

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
• The present invention relates to a process andapparatus for material preparation and to a method foranalysis therewith, by processing a material by forminga cut face and/or a rift therein, in particular, forpreparing a sample which serves advantageously foranalysis, observation, record or the like (in thefollowing, denoted sometimes as analysis etc.). Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to aprocess and apparatus for material preparation adaptedespecially to deal with materials which are subject todeformation, destruction and denaturing, includingbiological objects, organic and inorganic substances,chemical products and so on, as well as to a method foranalysis therewith.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
• For subjecting a material, especially amongthose, for example, biological bodies, such as plantseeds, and others, as a sample to a spectroanalysis, itis necessary to prepare a mirror-finished cut face ofthe material. On the other hand, for examining asample by mass spectrometry by penetrating through thesample with a laser beam, the sample should be cut toform a slice of a specific thickness. For the device for preparing such a mirror-finished face of a sampleby forming therein a cut face and/or a rift, a slidingcutter or a rotary cutter is used.
• A sliding cutter, operates by sliding a sharpblade and is adapted for slicing, for example, ananimal tissue, such as liver, embedded in a softsubstance, such as paraffin. However, the slicedtissue is apt to be deformed or destroyed by thepressure of the cutter blade. In particular, in thecase of slicing a tissue, such as a stalk or a leaf, ofa plant, which contains silica components, such as plantopal, the steel knife may be nicked by such silica andscars, such as knife marks, may be left on the resultingsliced sample.
• A rotary cutter operates with a rotary cuttingelement, such as a diamond saw, which may encounter asimilar disadvantage of deformation and destruction ofthe tissue by the cutter pressure as in the slidingcutter mentioned above, with a further defect that thecut sample is apt to suffer from denaturing due to thefrictional heat upon cutting. For evading such adefect, cutting oil is used for the purpose of coolingand prevention of oxidation. In the case of biologicalsample, cutting oil is absorbed in the cut sampleeasily and is detected upon the spectroanalysis as acontaminant component, reducing the analysis accuracy.
• In both cutter arrangements, the material to becut is fixedly held by embedding it in, for example, aparaffin wax or a resin, in order to immobilize thematerial upon cutting, which may cause also decrease in the accuracy of the analysis by a possibleinterminglement of such holding material into the cutsample upon cutting.
• A first object of the present invention is toprovide a process for material preparation in which amaterial can be processed by forming a cut face and/ora rift therein while preventing deformation,destruction and denaturing of the material in a simpleway using an apparatus of simple construction.
• A second object of the present invention is toprovide a process for material preparation in which amaterial can be processed by forming a cut face and/ora rift therein and preparing an examination surface ata predetermined position and at a definite angle ofinclination while preventing deformation, destructionand denaturing thereof in a simple way, so as to obtaina sample to be examined by analysis, observation,recording or the like at a high accuracy, using anapparatus of simple construction.
• A third object of the present invention is toprovide a material preparaing apparatus adapted forrealizing such a material preparation as above.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
• The present invention resides in the followingprocess and apparatus for performing the materialpreparation:
• (1) A process for effecting preparation ofmaterial, comprising
• fixing the material on a holding unit,
• freezing the material with dry ice, whilereplacing the gas-phase with the evolved carbon dioxidegas and
• cutting the material by a cutter so as to forma cut face and/or a cut rift.
• (2) The process as defined in the above (1), whereinthe material is embedded in a filler filled in theholding unit and the filler is frozen in this state bydry ice to solidify, before the material is cut by thecutter.
• (3) The process as defined in the above (1) or (2),wherein the cut surface, resulting after the cut faceand/or the cut rift is formed by the cutter, is polishedby the cutter to attain a mirror surface finishing.
• (4) The process as defined in any one of the above(1) to (3), wherein the material is a sample foranalysis, observation or recording.
• (5) A material prepared by the process as definedin any one of the above (1) to (4).
• (6) An apparatus for effecting material preparationcomprising
• a holding unit having one or more holders,
• a settling means for settling the material heldin the holder,
• dry ice wells disposed so as to effect freezingof the material held in the holding unit and to effecta gas phase replacement and
• a cutting space for permitting to cut thematerial by a cutter in a state frozen by dry ice with a gas phase replacement to form a cut face and/or a cutrift.
• (7) The apparatus as defined in the above (6),wherein a plurality of the holders are arranged in arow.
• (8) The apparatus as defined in the above (6) or(7), wherein it further comprises a mount which has asupport for supporting the protruding portion of thematerial protruding from the holding unit and which isdisposed on the holding unit disengageably.
• (9) The apparatus as defined in the above (8),wherein the mount has an affixing means for affixingthe cut off protruding portion.
• (10) A method for effecting analysis, in which thematerial as defined in the above (5) is used as thesample.
• The material to be subjected to the materialpreparation according to the present invention isprocessed by forming a cut face and/or a cut rifttherein. For such a material, every one subject todeformation, destruction and denaturing may bementioned, wherefor especially materials for samplesfor analyses etc. are particularly adapted.
• Such a material may be of those biological,organic and chemical origins. Concrete examplestherefor include seeds, stalks, leaves and roots ofplants and tissues of plants and animals includinghuman being. They may be those for use in applicationsother than sample. Materials other than the aboveinclude, for example, material for slicing wafer from silicon crystal, easily deformable textiles and others.
• Such analysis, observation and others using asample obtained by the material preparation maycomprise every practice of analysis, observation,recording and so on to be carried out on the cut faceor on the cut rift of the sample, including those inwhich mathematical processing is employed, such as forexample, spectroanalyses using electromagnetic wave(including IR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-rayfluorometry and chromatic differential spectrophotometry)and mass spectrometry, and further, those inwhich observation, determination and recording on imageis included, such as for example, microscopy(including electronmicroscopy), TV-image analysis,photography, visual inspection and so on.
• According to the present invention, such amaterial subject to deformation, destruction ordenaturing is held on a holding unit and the materialis frozen substantially instantaneously by dry icewhile replacing the ambient atmosphere by carbondioxide gas, whereupon the material is cut to form acut face and/or a cut rift to effect the materialpreparation. Dry ice is a solid product of carbondioxide produced by cooling and compressing carbondioxide gas, for which a product having a grain size of0.1 - 5 mm, preferably 0.1 - 2 mm, may be employed. Itis enough to place dry ice at a portion capable ofcooling and freezing the material and replacing theambient atmosphere with carbon dioxide gas, while itis preferable to place dry ice around and above the material so as to cover it.
• The material should be held fixedly on theholding unit during cutting thereof. The fixation ofthe material may be realized using a settling memberarranged in the holding unit or by filling a filler inthe holding unit and making use of the adhesion forceof the filler itself or, further, by solidifying thematerial by cooling with dry ice. As the filler, asubstance capable of solidifying at lower temperature,such as a putty (for example, based on silicone or onaqueous acrylic resin) or water, may favorably beemployed due to its better processibility, while it ispermissible to use a polymerized or condensedsubstance, such as a resin.
• The holding unit may be constructed in such amanner that the material is held partly so as toprotrude a part of the material out thereof and to fixthe material by a settling means. It is enough that aholder formed in the holding unit is constructed so asto enable to hold the material, but the holder maypreferably have a form to match the contour of thematerial so as to permit to hold the material after thecutting. However, the holder may not neccesarily beconstructed to correspond completely to the contour ofthe material but may preferably have a form somewhatlarger but roughly adapted to the contour of thematerial and, by filling the holder with a filler, suchas putty or water, to embed the material therein. Theholder may preferably be provided in plural numbers,wherein it is efficient and favorable to arrange them in one or more rows within one and the same plane so asto enable cutting of the materials by one single actionof the cutter simultaneously. When a plurality of rowsof the holders are used, they may be arranged in a formof lattice or honeycomb.
• The settling means is a member for serving forsettling the material held in the holder and it maypreferably comprise a resilient member arranged so asto permit to settle the material held in the holder bypressing onto the material under such a pressure thatno damage of the material is caused in accordance withthe configuration held in the holder but the materialis settled in a fixed state. The holder and thesettling member may be arranged in integral form. Ifthe holding unit is provided with a plurality ofholders, the settling members are also disposedcorrespondingly. For example, when the holders arearranged in a row, the settling members may beconstructed in a correponding form, namely, they may bein a form of an elongated arm or in a comb-like form.
• It is possible to use, as the settling member,a filler, so long as the construction of the holderpermits. Thus, if the holder is constructed in a formof a cavity, the gap between the material inserted inthe cavity and the cavity wall may be filled with afiller, such as a putty, whereupon the filler is causedto solidify to attain a firm fixation of the sample.For the filler, a sheet-formed one, such as both-sidedsticky tape, may also be used.
• Dry ice wells for accommodating dry ice for effecting freezing of the material held on the holdingunit and gas phase replacement may be arranged in theholding unit integrally therewith or separately on amount or in a portion between the mount and the holdingunit. Dry ice may favorably be piled in the dry icewells arranged in a form of a groove surrounding theholding unit and served for anchoring function forpreventing floating of dry ice particle due to the windpressure caused by the action of cutter rotating at ahigh speed, while they may simply be piled around andabove the holding unit.
• A cutting space is arranged to permit cutting,by a cutter, the material held on the holding unit toform a cut face and/or a cut rift. The cutter isarranged in the holding unit integrally therewith orindependently therefrom. In general, cutters in cuttingarrangements, such as those of high performance slicerfor semiconductor wafer and so on, may be used as such,while a cutter using a cutting lever having the fulcrumat one end of the holding unit may also be used in asimple cutting. Here, the holding unit is assembled onthe cutting arrangement under positioning so as topermit to cut the sample at a portion protruding fromthe holder. When a plurality of samples are put on aplurality of holders, they are disposed in such anarrangement that all the samples are cut in one and thesame plane. In the case of, for example, a plurality ofholders are arranged in a row, cutting of the materialsis performed by causing the cutter or the holding unitto move in the direction of the row. For the cutter, any voluntary type including sliding cutter and rotarycutter may be used, while preference is given to arotary cutter having cutting teeth of an ultrahardmaterial, such as diamond, as represented by a diamondsaw.
• For cutting the material by a cutter at aportion protruding from the holding unit, it ispreferable to install a support for supporting thematerial at its protruding free top. The support mayfavorably be provided with an affixing means, such as asticky tape, so as to enable to affix and recover thecut off protruding portion as a sample for chemicalanalysis. The protruding portion support may favorablybe arranged on the holding unit directly or on the mountdisengageably under intermediation by the setting mountor so on.
• For the material preparation using the apparatusdescribed above, the material is first held in theholder of the holding unit, preferably in a stateembedded in a filler filled in the holder, and issettled by an assist of a settling member, if present.The settling of the material may be assisted by theprotruding portion support disposed on the mount, if themount is present, by resting the protruding portion ofthe material on it. Dry ice particles are then placedin the dry ice wells so as to heap the dry iceparticles around and over the material.
• Dry ice has a sublimation temperature of minus78.5 °C at atmospheric pressure, so that the materialwill be frozen substantially instantaneously and the ambient atmosphere is replaced by inert carbon dioxiedgas. Due to the instantaneous freezing of the material,there occurs no growth of crystals of ice within thetissue and, in addition, due to the exclusion of oxygen,no denaturing by the influence of ice, oxygen and heatcan be brought about. The material is fixed bysolidification of the filler by the low temperature.
• In this state, the cutter is slid or rotated inthe cutting space to effect cutting of the material,whereby a cut face or a cut rift is formed on the so-cutmaterial while the frictional heat is absorbed by dryice so that the material is maintained under an inertatmosphere at a temperature of minus 78.5 °C. Due tothe solidified state of the material together with thefiller, soft tissues, such as plant root and the like,can be cut and the cut fragments are scattered awaywithout contaminating the cut face of the material. Byshaving shallowly the cut face by the cutter blade, amirror-finished surface can be obtained. Here, the cutand shaven fragments are removed by being captured inthe dry ice and a uniform and contaminant-free mirrorsurface is formed on the material.
• The so-prepared material taken out from theholding unit and is served for each specific purpose,while it may favorably be served as a sample foranalysis or so on. The method of analysis according tothe present invention is effected using the materialgiven above as the sample for analysis or so on. Whena sample for analysis or so on is prepared by forming acut face and/or a cut rift on the material, the so-prepared sample may be taken off together with thesample holder from the mount and set as such on ananalyzing apparatus for performing analysis,observation, recording and so on. These examinationprocedures may be performed either in the frozen stateof the sample or in a state after the sample has beenwarmed to normal temperature in, for example, adesiccator, in order to prevent dew condensation.Samples having the cut face can be examined by analysis,such as a spectroanalysis, by irradiating the cut facewith a beam of electromagnetic wave, by observationunder a microscope or with photography and by recordingand measurements of the configuration etc. with imageprocessor or the like. When a cut rift is formed inthe sample in the direction parallel to the cut face,an accurate mass spectroscopic analysis can be realizedby vaporizing the constituent substances by irradiatingthe formed slice with a laser beam. Using such asample, analysis of trace components, which hashitherto been impossible due to light scattering, canbe realized, since the sample can be settled in aposture in which the cut face is vertical to theoptical axis. The cut face can be formed in a plane ata definite distance from the front end of the sampleholder, permitting thus a quantitative analysis of anumber of samples under the same condition, whereby theanalysis accuracy is increased. When a mirror surfaceis formed by shaving after the cut face or the cut rifthas been prepared, light scattering is prevented andthe analysis accuracy can further be increased.
• Due to the condition of cutting of the materialunder a state frozen by dry ice, the sample does notsuffer from deformation, destruction and denaturing andcan be used for analysis or so on, so that analysis,observation and so on of exact internal state of thesample are made possible with high accuracy. Aninfluence of carbon dioxide gas evolved from dry ice onthe analysis accuracy can be minmized, since such gascan be removed easily.
• There occurs no denaturing in the so-cutmaterial and in the protruding portion thereof, sincefreezing occurs instantaneously, so that the originalstate can be restored after thawing. When a seed of aplant is served as the material, the embryo keeps itsgerming potential and, thus, is permitted to grow.Therefore, it is possible to select superior seeds bythe sample analysis and to multiplicate contemplatedseeds by cultivating such plants by growing from theembryos of the selected seeds. Here, selection of seedcan be attained without suffering from any influence bythe analytical operation, by settling the seed in sucha posture that its embryo is in the inside of theholder. The protruding portion cut off may be used asa sample for analyzing composition thereof by chemicalanalysis or for other purposes. When the preparedmaterial is used for other purposes than the sample foranalyses, namely, for example, when silicon crystal iscut into silicon wafer, the intrinsic components andphysical and chemical properties before the preparationare retained, since no denaturing occurs.
• According to the present invention, a materialis cut under a condition in which the material isfrozen with gas phase replacement by dry ice, so that acut face and/or cut rift can be formed by a simpleconstruction and simple operation while preventingdeformation, destruction and denaturing of the materialand, thus, a highly accurate analysis and so on can berealized when the prepared material is used for suchanalysis and so on.
• When the holder is filled with a filler and thematerial is embedded therein and, then, the filler isfrozen by dry ice, an easy fixation of the material canbe realized and objects, of which fixation is not easy,such as seeds of plants, can easily be fixed.
• By arranging a support for supporting theportion protruding from the holder, displacement of thematerial due to vibration etc. upon cutting by thecutter can be prevented and the material can be cutprecisely. When the support is provided with anaffixing means, the protruding portion cut off can berecovered and utilized effectively for analysis or soon.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
• In the following, embodiments of the presentinvention will be described with reference to thedrawings.
• Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of the apparatus formaterial preparation in a perspective view.
• Fig. 2 shows a manner of cutting by a cutterin a perspective view.
• Fig. 3(a) shows a manner of cutting a materialin a sectional view.
• Fig. 3(b) shows a cut sample in a perspectiveview.
• Fig. 4 shows the holding unit in a cut state ina perspective view.
• Figs. 5(a), 5(b) and 5(c) show each the holdingunit, each as a partial enlarged perspectiveillustration, in a state without a material, in a stateholding the material and in a state with cut material,respectively.
THE BEST MODE FOR EMBODYING THE INVENTION
• In Figs. 1 to 5, thematerial preparationapparatus 10 comprises a holding unit 1 and amount 2assembled disengageably by a joint means 3a. On theholding unit 1, a plurality ofholders 4 eachconstituted of a recess of a form corresponding to thehalf part of the material 11 (a seed of wheat in thisembodiment) are arranged in a row along the upper edge.A settling means 5 arranged in a comb-like form forputting down each material 11 held in theholder 4 atits portion lla to be held is arranged by ajoint means3b. Theholder 4 may preferably have a space 4a to befilled with afiller 13. In the holding unit 1, dryice wells 6a in a form of grooves are disposedsurrounding theholders 4 for receivingdry ice 12.
• Themount 2 is arranged in combination with theholding unit 1 disengageably therefrom, wherein thesupports 7 for supporting the protruding porton llb ofthe material 11 are arranged in a row so as to confronttheholders 4. On each top end of thesupports 7, anaffixing means 7a constituted of a both-sided stickingtape for capturing the protruding portion llb isdisposed. Around thesupports 7, adry ice well 6b isarranged, which continues to the dry ice well 6a.
• Above thejunction interface 8 between theholding unit 1 and themount 2, a cutting space 9 isdisposed.
• In Fig. 2, numerals denote: 20 a cuttingarrangement, 21 a cutting stage, 22 a rotary cutterconsisting of diamond saw, 23 a fixing jig and 24 acover.
• The material preparation using the apparatusgiven above is performed in the manner as follows:
• First, thematerial 11 is placed in theholder4 on the holding unit 1 in a posture in which the sideof itsembryo 11c as the portion to be held lla is putin theholder 4, as shown in Fig. 5(b) starting fromthe state as shown in Fig. 5(a), followed by filling upwith afiller 13, such as a silicone putty, so as tocause thematerial 11 to be embedded therein and to besettled by the help of the settling means 5. Then, themount 2 is connected by the joint means 3a, as shown inFig. 3(a), whereupon the protrudingportion 11b isaffixed to the affixing means 7a and is caused to reston the protrudingportion support 7. In this state, thematerial preparation apparatus 10 is mounted on thecuttingstage 21 of the cuttingarrangement 20 and isfixed at a proper position by means of the fixingjig23, as shown in Fig. 2.Dry ice 12 is then supplied tothedry ice wells 6a and 6b and also to the space abovethematerial 11 to effect freezing of the material 11with the gas phase replacement to thereby solidify thefiller 13 to fix thematerial 11.
• Then, thecutter 22 is put down to the cuttingspace 9 and the material is cut by moving either thecutter 22 or the cuttingstage 21 to form acut face 14and acut rift 15. Here, the frictional heat by thecutter 22 is absorbed by dry ice. Since thematerial11 is made brittle by freezing, the portions of thematerials cut off by thecutter 22 are fragmented andscatterd away and the outer layer etc. of the material11 will not adhere onto the cut face of inner layer, sothat the cut face 14 as an observation surface and thecut rift 15 remain without exhibiting deformation,destruction, denaturing or the like. By polishing theso-formed cut face shallowly by bringing down thecutter 22 again, a mirror-surface finishing can beattained.
• The so-prepared material 11 is taken off fromthemount 2 together with the holding unit 1 as shownin Figs. 4 and 5(c), wherein the cut face 14 of thematerial 11 is in an exposed state. The form of thematerial 11 is as shown in Fig. 3(b). The materialholder 1 is set on an analysis apparatus with the so-preparedmaterials 11 being in a frozen state as such or after having been warmed up to normal temperaturefor use as the sample for analysis etc. to carry outanalysis etc. In the case of, for example, spectroanalysis,the holding unit 1 is mounted on thespectroanalysis apparatus in such a manner that the cutface 14 of the material 11 will be irradiated by aradiant ray. Here, the cut faces 14 are settled at adefinite distance from the base of the holding unit 1and at a definite angle (90°), so that it is possibleto analyze a large number of samples under the samecondition, permitting a high accuracy of the analysis.In the case of mass spectrometric analysis, a laserbeam is projected onto aslice sample 16 formed betweenthecut face 14 and thecut rift 15 to cause therebythe substances of the sample to vaporize for the massspectrometry. Other analyses, inspection, recording,observation and so on may also be carried out in asimilar way as above. The protrudingportion 11b cutoff is recovered by being stickily captured on theaffixing means 7a and is served for chemical analysis.
• In the case of analyzing seeds of wheat, as inthe above embodiment, one specific seed can be selectedby the analysis as above and can be multiplicated usingthe embryo thereof by growing it. Here, theembryo 11cremains keeping its germing ability, so that a plantcan be grown from the embryo of the seed selected amongthem.
• Below, the present invention is described byway of Examples.
Example 1
• Using a material preparation unit as shown inFig. 1, samples were prepared from each five seeds ofeach sort of wheat among Norin 61, Kanto 119, Halberdand Eradu (total 20 seeds) as the material by forming acut face and a cut rift, which were analyzed for thewhiteness of the seed by colorimetric analysis. Thematerial preparation apparatus was made up by workingby cutting an acrylic resin block. The sample holderwas coupled with the mount by jointing screws to buildup the preparation unit. On the holders each coatedwith a putty based on silicone in a thin layer, theseeds of wheat were set in the holders, wherein eachlower side thereof was embedded in the putty whileinstalling by screwing a settling means constituted ofa plate spring (t = 1 mm) made of a stainless steelproduced by a wire-cut spark erosion machine.
• The wheat was cut using a high precision slicer(USM 150 A, supplied from Toshiba Machine Co., Ltd.)with its edible part, i.e. the endosperm part,constituting the protruding portion, in the manner asfollows. The sample holder having 20 seeds was fixedon an electromagnetic chuck-provided stage of theslicer using a fixing jig under positioning of theposition to be cut, whereupon dry ice crushed intoparticles of about 1 mm size was placed in the dry icewells and over the materials to cool the entire assemblyat -78.5°C to freeze the materials and the putty tothereby prevent deformation and heating upon cutting,while replacing oxygen with the sublimed carbon dioxide gas to exclude oxidation. Cutting was carried out usinga diamond saw (supplied from the firm Asahi Diamond,with  = 100 mm, t = 200 µ m and diamond particlesize = 500 mesh) at a revolution rate of 6,000 r.p.m.to cut the sample placed under the dry ice powder. Theresulting cut face was then shaven to a depth of 5 - 10µm to finish into a mirror surface which was served asthe site of the sample to be examined. If a uniformityof the thickness of the sample is required, a cut slitis formed behind the cut face at a position of 1 mmdistant from the cut face to prepare for a constantthickness of the sample slice.
• For determining the whiteness, the mount wasdisengaged from the material preparation unit havingthe row of cut seeds by turning the jointing screws andwas settled on the material stage so that the mirror-finishedcut face was on the upper side, whereupon amicrometer colorimetry on microsurfaces (  300 µm)was performed. The colorimetric data were entered in acomputer and were analyzed by colored imaging under theuse of a color-analyzing software. The results aregiven in Table 1.

  Object	Norin 61	Kanto 119	Halberd	Eradu
  Whiteness observed	96.02	93.07	67.24	86.39
  	71.45	84.71	83.68	96.08
  	80.39	87.3	78.01	85.96
  	72.87	98.85	76.28	93.6
  	81.68	82.54	60.45	97.82
  Average	80.48	89.29	73.13	91.97
  Standard error	9.78	6.64	9.23	5.50

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY
• The process and the apparatus for the materialpreparation according to the present invention can beutilized for forming a cut face and/or a cut rift, soas to permit to use a material subject to deformation,destruction or denaturing, such as biological, organicor chemical substance, for the sample for analysis,observation or recording and for other material.

Claims (10)

1. A process for effecting preparation ofmaterial, comprising

   fixing the material on a holding unit,

   freezing the material with dry ice, whilereplacing the gas-phase with the evolving carbon dioxidegas and

   cutting the material by a cutter so as to forma cut face and/or a cut rift.
2. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein thematerial is embedded in a filler filled in the holdingunit and the filler is frozen in this state by dry iceto solidify, before the material is cut by the cutter.
3. The process as claimed in claim 1 or 2, whereinthe cut surface, resulting after the cut face and/orthe cut rift is formed by the cutter, is polished bythe cutter to attain a mirror surface finishing.
4. The process as claimed in any one of claims 1to 3, wherein the material is a sample for analysis,observation or recording.
5. A material prepared by the process as claimedin any one of claims 1 to 4.
6. An apparatus for effecting material preparationcomprising

   a holding unit having one or more holders,

   a settling means for settling the material heldin the holder,

   dry ice wells disposed so as to effect freezingof the material held in the holding unit and to effect a gas phase replacement and

   a cutting space for permitting to cut thematerial by a cutter in a state frozen by dry ice witha gas phase replacement to form a cut face and/or a cutrift.
7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 6, whereina plurality of the holders are arranged in a row.
8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 6 or 7,wherein it further comprises a mount which has asupport for supporting the protruding portion of thematerial protruding from the holding unit and which isdisposed on the holding unit disengageably.
9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 8, whereinthe mount has an affixing means for affixing the cutoff protruding portion.
10. A method for effecting analysis, in which thematerial as claimed in claim 5 is used as the sample.

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